


Dinner

by im_engineering_shes_biochem



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Dinner, F/M, First Dates, Nervousness, So Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 05:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4089367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_engineering_shes_biochem/pseuds/im_engineering_shes_biochem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They finally do the thing.  The dinner thing.  And it's adorable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote all of this on my phone screen, so if you're reading on a computer screen it probably seems really choppy. Apologies :)

"Um, how about that dinner?" Fitz offered with a shy half-grin. Simmons sat on the edge of a bed in the medical wing, wrapping her forearm in gauze. 

She'd been recovered from the Kree planet Hala after a battle between Skye's new team and the Kree forces there. The Kree, well, they were just as interested in human anatomy as Simmons was in Kree anatomy. Jemma, after willingly giving up as much information on humanity as she could, had been tested in various alien labs. At first she'd been treated like a lab mouse, not like a person, but eventually she communicated to the Kree her earthly status, and they grew to respect her. Skye's team had enacted an extraction after receiving the signal Jemma sent through the portal.

And now she was bandaging herself up, trying to forget about the blue alien skin of the Kree, and Fitz was asking her to dinner to help her take her mind off of it. Jemma smiled at his gentleness.

"Now?" she asked, cutting the bandage and tucking the remaining length into her wrist. Hopefully it wouldn't bleed through.

"I mean, I understand if you needed to rest and all," he rambled quickly, wringing his hands. "You probably, eh, want to do that, I'll just... I'll just go. It was a stupid, dumb idea. I apologize, I'll be on my way."

"Fitz," Jemma yelled in disbelief. Even after everything she'd told him, was he still so doubting of her feelings for him? And how did he manage talking so quickly through his nerves? It was quite adorable, the awkward nerdiness that was Fitz. "Tonight's fine."

She was smiling at him reassuringly, and now Fitz felt bad for misunderstanding her. "Right, well, I've come up with a list to run by you. It's pretty long, considering..." he trailed off there. Fitz ran out of the room and out to his work station in the lab. He snatched up his engineering notebook and ran it back to Jemma, finding the page quickly. He presented the page to her.

"A decision matrix?" Jemma laughed, and Fitz smiled dorkily at her.

"I just thought I should be thorough."

\------------------------------------------

Fitz walked Jemma to her room first, and he really wanted to hold her hand, but it was probably slippery with sweat, and he wasn't sure if holding hands came before or after (or during, was it during?) the date.

Next, he walked giddily to Coulson's office to ask for the night off. Coulson's sat at his desk and nodded as Fitz asked nervously for permission. He pulled out the paperwork and handed over a signed form, but pulled it back when Fitz reached for it.

"Are you going on a date? With Simmons?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, well, we're going out for dinner," Fitz responded, panicking suddenly.

"You'll do fine, Fitz," Coulson assured him, changing his tone completely. Was this how his dad would've sent him off to prom? If Fitz had had a normal life, where he actually went to prom?

"Thanks, sir," Fitz answered sincerely, then took the papers and turned to exit.

"Fitz," Coulson stopped him. He turned around again, feeling dizzy already.

"Wear something nice," he called, not looking up from the open file on his desk.

"Yes, sir," Fitz said enthusiastically, then ran out of the room, practically shaking with anticipation.

\------------------------------------------

Jemma wandered through the training area downstairs, searching for Skye, but instead she found Bobbi working on her rehabilitation exercises.

"Simmons," she said in surprise, dropping her gloved fists to her sides as the small girl passed anxiously.

"Bobbi, I'm just, I'm looking for Skye?"

"Haven't seen her, sorry."

"Great, well, thanks for trying," Jemma said, then turned quickly and practically started running out of the room.

"Wait, wait, wait," Bobbi stopped her, running towards her and unwrapping her gloves at the same time. "Why do you need Skye?"

"Um, fashion reasons." Bobbi raised her eyebrows, then understood. She smiled at Simmons before biting the strap of her right glove off.

"You've got a date," she stated while she pulled the other glove off.

"How did you- oh, visual hints. And yes, I'm going on a date. With Fitz." She beamed.

Bobbi threw her gloves to the floor and enveloped Simmons in a hug. "I'm so proud of you two! I promise this dinner will be perfect."

"Not if I can't find a dress," Simmons replied with a nervous smile as they broke apart.

"C'mon, I'll help you out. This kind of thing is practically girl code."

\------------------------------------------

"Lance, could I borrow that suit of yours?" Fitz asked, poking his head into his room. Lance was sitting on the bed, playing Xbox with Mack and drinking a beer. (Really, when wasn't Lance drinking?)

"Ayyyy! Turbo!" Mack greeted, thumbs still moving furiously across the controller.

"What was that, mate?" Lance asked, also still focused on the game.

"I said I need a suit," Fitz repeated, raising his voice as if that would help.

Apparently, it did, because Mack paused the game and snapped his head to the doorway. "Do you have a date?" he asked Fitz, his voice raising an octave at the end.

"Well, technically it's dinner, but yeah. With Simmons."

"You the man, Turbo!" Mack shouted.

"What? Really?!" Lance shouted simultaneously.

Fitz felt his cheeks warm, and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, and I still need that suit."

"Yeah, right away bud," Lance said, leaping out of his seat and hustling to his closet.

"Let me go grab some cologne. I can't believe you're getting some before me."

Fitz was about to protest when Lance started attacking him with tie options.

\------------------------------------------

"You're pulling too hard, Skye," Jemma managed through winces and gritted teeth.

"Sorry," Skye replied genuinely, loosening her grip on Jemma's hair. "I'm just excited."

"I think she's more excited than you are, Jemma," muttered Bobbi with a laugh. She was crouched down in front of Jemma, doing her makeup, much to Jemma's anxiety.

"Ha, ha, Bobbi. Do you think you could do a black smoky eye? I want it to match the dress."

"I reject that idea," Jemma intervened before they could conspire against her too much.

Simmons could tell her two stylists were mouthing secrets to each other, so she rolled her eyes and tried to interrupt them. "Which dress will I be wearing, exactly?"

"It's a secret," Skye and Bobbi said in sync.

"I would think I should be allowed to see the dress that I will be wearing on my date."

"I think you should see your face, first," Bobbi said, in awe of her own work.

With that Jemma was spun around in the chair and made to face the mirror. Surprisingly, she looked rather like herself. Her hair was done up elegantly, her face covered in a thin layer of foundation. It was her eyes that were nearly unrecognizable, in the best way. Lined with a thick liquid eyeliner and full-looking mascaraed eyelashes. Fortunately, there was not a panda-like smoky eye blotting out her eyelids.

"Great job, ladies. It's beautiful," Jemma commented, tilting her head a bit to admire her hair more.

"You should see the dress, Jemma," Skye replied, and Jemma could just hear the smirk on her face.

She spun in her chair and found Bobbi holding up the dress she would be wearing. Jemma gasped.

"It's perfect."

Bobbi laughed and passed the dress over to Jemma. "Didn't I promise it would be?"

\------------------------------------------

"So, what do you say when you pick her up?"

"Did you fall from heaven? 'Cause you look angelic," Fitz recited from memory, and Lance nodded in approval while Mack facepalmed.

"Great, now what will you talk about at the restaurant?"

Fitz pulled at his bow tie nervously. "I don't know. Jemma and I've already talked about pretty much everything."

"You haven't talked in a year or so," Mack suggested, and Lance elbowed him. "Talk about what you were going through. Ask her about her problems. Reconnect."

Fitz nodded, but he didn't think he would actually have the courage to bring that up.

"Worst comes to worst, just bring up how nauseating Bob and Hunter are." Lance elbowed him again, harder this time, and Mack broke into a grin. Fitz allowed a small smile as he rubbed his palms across his knees.

"Last thing," Lance started, tilting his head to the side. "Do you know how to kiss?"

Fitz's eyes widened as he stuttered out an answer. "I, uh, no."

Lance and Mack exchanged a knowing smile, and Mack spoke up. "It's okay, Turbo. YouTube is a great resource."

\------------------------------------------

Jemma glanced at herself in the mirror as she put in fake diamond earrings. The dress was beautiful, but it was missing something. She didn't have many necklaces of her own, but she tried on the ones she did have. Nothing was working.

She had put on her S.H.I.E.L.D. dog tags out of desperation when none other than Melinda May appeared in the doorway.

"I heard about you and Fitz," she said, then actually smiled. "Congratulations, Simmons. I know how much this means to you."

"Thanks, May. How are things with you and Andrew?"

"Never been better," May answered, then held out a silvery chain to Jemma. The necklace was thin, drooping under the weight of the circular diamond charm.

"Are you sure, May? This looks special." Jemma asked cautiously, afraid to even touch the necklace as it dangled before her.

"It was," May said, smiling fondly. "But I'm starting a new life for myself. There are too many memories attached to this. Take it."

"Well, thank you," Jemma replied, still in awe of the shininess as May latched the chain around her.

"Wonderful as the girl wearing it," May breathed, staring at their reflection in Jemma's smudged bunk mirror. Jemma smiled. "Good luck tonight," May finished with a wink and a click of her tongue, then exited the room before Jemma could thank her.

Jemma pulled at the hem of her dress and took in her full reflection in the mirror. It was only then she realized. She was going on a date with Fitz, her best friend in the world, and the only person she had ever been maybe in love with. She couldn't believe how much their relationship had changed in just a year. And she couldn't believe how okay with it she was.

She heaved a deep breath and grabbed her phone from the dresser. "Here goes nothing."

\------------------------------------------

Fitz stood anxiously at the double doors of the lab, rocking back and forth on his heels. Lance and Mack stood behind him, trying not to laugh at Fitz's innocent manner. They had shown him loads of videos, sprayed cologne every time he got nervously sweaty. Fitz had practically memorized the WikiHow page on kissing, but he still felt like he was walking into the unknown. Maybe that uncertainty stemmed from the fact that he'd never been on an actual date before.

He went over Hunter's chat up line in his head, then muttered it aloud several times. Eventually he decided it would be too difficult to actually verbalize the entire phrase, so instead he settled on just, 'Something about angels. Just say something about angels.'

Skye and Bobbi giggled as they walked down the hallway towards the lab, joining the spectating crowd, and Fitz's stomach did a back flip. Bobbi laced her hand into Lance's almost instinctively smoothly, and Fitz wondered how easily it would be to hold Jemma's hand like that. He'd probably just make a fool out of himself if he tried.

Then Jemma appeared around the corner, and Fitz's heart skipped a beat. She was the same beautiful Jemma, except more dressed up. Her dress was sheer and blackish blue, reaching down to her knees. The collared neckline retained some of the professional elegance Jemma usually carried, and the lack of long sleeves revealed her pale, freckle-spotted arms. Even if there were a variety of bandages scattered across her skin, Fitz's breath was taken away.

"Ethereal," Fitz breathed, and Jemma smiled. Fitz and his big words. What a nerd. A very attractive nerd, if she said so herself.

"You look good, too, Fitz," she replied as she took her place right beside him, linking her fingers into his without second thought. He stared down at their intertwined hands, already captivated by the simple affectionate gesture.

Skye took a picture, and the flash startled Fitz out of his fixation. Then, in synchronization, Fitzsimmons rolled their eyes and began blabbering about immaturity and photographic consent.

"Looks like they're back," May's voice sounded from further inside the lab, and the entire team laughed. May and Coulson emerged from their half-hiding place in the lab.

Coulson folded his arms across his chest and made a serious face. "Alright, kids. Stay safe. Not too much touchy-feeling. I expect you both back before midnight. Remember, I've not only got a shotgun, I've got a whole team of highly trained gunmen."

They grinned, and Coulson's stern look shifted into one of pride. "Get out of here, you two."

"Thanks, sir," Jemma chirped, securing her grip on Fitz's hand and pulling them away from the group and out the main doors of HQ.

\------------------------------------------

"You really look nice tonight," Fitz began. "I mean, you look nice everyday, just, uh, I'm telling you. Now."

Jemma smiled, though she was beginning to wear out from his nervous rambling. They had made it to the restaurant, a fancy Italian one she couldn't pronounce the name of, but the entire drive there had been full of Fitz's nonstop chatter. He must think he's compensating for his nervousness. How sweet.

It grew worse and worse as the night went on, Fitz resorting to topics like 'the weather' and 'that one episode of Doctor Who'. Jemma had said, "Mm hm," and "Oh yeah," at least a hundred times already. Now that they were at the restaurant, with food in their bellies, she thought his nerves would subside. (Food was always a comfort to Fitz.) But he just kept on going, and she honestly just needed him to shut up and relax.

"That dress does wonders for you, uh, not that I noticed or anything, but you just look really pretty in it. And you do in all of your clothes, it's just that we're on a... we're having dinner together now, and I thought-"

She placed her hand over his knuckles, on top of the table, and he sucked in a deep breath, speechless. Jemma chuckled lightly at his reaction. "Listen, Leo. I mean this in the nicest way possible. Stop talking." He managed a laugh, and she kept stroking the backs of his hands comfortingly.

Jemma inhaled deeply, savoring his smile before it would undoubtedly disappear. "I think I need to explain what was going through my mind back in the bottom of the ocean."

Just like she had guessed, Fitz's smiled dropped, turned into a slight frown. "You really don't have to."

"Yeah, but I need to." Jemma set down her napkin, steadying herself. "A year ago, I was so in awe of the work I, we, were doing. I put all my focus and effort into it. I thought... I thought that putting my all into science would magically make me happy. I didn't pay enough attention to my feelings, much less the feelings of the people around me. And I apologize for neglecting you like that."

"You didn't-"

"Let me finish, for Christ's sake," Jemma cut him off with a teasing smile. Fitz's eyes softened.

"When you told me about your feelings, down in that med pod, well, I didn't have time to process anything. After ignoring my own feelings for so long, I couldn't find the right emotion to label what I felt for you. How I saw you. I didn't know what to do, and then the water started rushing in and I was kicking for my life and yours, and I couldn't focus on anything other than your health for almost an entire month.

"Then I was undercover in Hydra, and then I was working on the index with Coulson and coming to terms with Skye's powers, and all this time I couldn't watch out for myself. I wasn't maintaining my mental or my emotional health, and on top of that, we were fighting-"

"I'm sorry," Fitz interjected, grabbing her forearm suddenly to try and comfort her.

"It was my fault, too," Jemma whispered guiltily. "I was falling back into my old ways, but now there was a gravitational tug weighing at my mind, and it was pulling me straight to you. After S.H.I.E.L.D. broke in, the chaos broke my emotionless drive, and I stared to actually feel things again, in the biggest way. That's when I started thinking about you, a lot, and I was so much happier. It was another few weeks to realize that I had been in love with you all along."

The last sentence jolted her to a stop. It was the first date, yet she was already telling him she loved him. That's hardly traditional. Jemma sat still, gazing down at where their hands lay together on the table.

"I love you, too, Jemma," Fitz whispered, gently lacing their fingers together.

She very nearly jumped the table to kiss him. Stupid Italian restaurants and their lack of booths. Instead she smiled the most genuine smile his way, and he returned it, and their hands continued tinkering with each other as they made light conversation about this whole new path of their lives.

\------------------------------------------

"Best frozen yogurt ever," Jemma groaned through a mouthful of cinnamon roll-flavored creamy goodness.

"This is literally a chain restaurant," Fitz replied loudly, pointing his spoon at the bright orange and green lights of the sign behind them. "There are thousands of these. It isn't even gourmet."

After finishing their meals (and several glasses of wine) Fitz and Jemma walked a few blocks to the nearest self-serve fro-yo store, where he bought her the largest bowl there, which she only filled a quarter of the way.

"What's the difference between ice cream and frozen yogurt anyways?" Fitz asked, then shoveled another spoonful into his mouth.

"Frozen yogurt has more cultures than ice cream," Jemma replied, then scooped up the remnants left in the bowl. "Ice cream is more susceptible to changing temperatures, because it contains less enzymes."

Fitz nodded thoughtfully, then plucked a piece of brownie from his bowl and chewed loudly, igniting a laugh from Jemma. "Doesn't matter. It's too expensive," Fitz added, finishing off his bowl.

"I'm slightly offended by that statement," Jemma replied with a teasing laugh. "Am I not worth three ninety-nine?"

"You're worth the world and more, Jemma," Fitz promised seriously, catching her off guard with sparkling blue eyes.

Thank God for yogurt shops' lack of actual tables.

Jemma lunged forward, knocking the bowl off Fitz's lap, and finally kissed him. Maybe a bit too intensely for a first kiss, as Fitz stumbled backwards and had to place a hand on the curb behind him to catch himself. But still, it was good, an amazing mixture of nervousness and yearning and the lingering taste of frozen yogurt.

She was the one to break the kiss, too, and she pulled back, but not too much. Fitz's eyes were closed and he was breathing raggedly, and she smiled at his flustered face before breathing out her own hesitant breath.

"Sorry if that was too sudden," Jemma whispered, touching her forehead to his and laughing lightly. "I've just been imagining it for months straight."

Fitz finally opened his eyes and smiled at her until they both dissolved into breathless laughter. Jemma was about to say something witty when Fitz cupped her face with both hands and brought their mouths together. Now they were both giddy, light-headed from the kissing and the sugar, and they couldn't help but break apart for a giggle or a loving smile every few seconds.

Their jobs were obviously dangerous, and they would still have to be separated in the field a majority of the time, but they were willing to take that risk. S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a part of their lives just as much as each other would. They both realized how difficult keeping up a relationship would be, but somehow they would manage. Right now, just knowing how much they meant to each other was enough. Their love would keep them content.


End file.
